Zuma to hold talks as students prepare to march on Union Buildings

Johannesburg – Students across the country are planning to march against fee increases on Friday, with students in the UK also planning a march in solidarity with their counterparts in South Africa.

The largest march was expected to see Wits, University of Johannesburg and Pretoria students take their protest to the Union Buildings, where President Jacob Zuma would meet vice-chancellors and student leaders for talks.

A group of University of Cape Town academics intended to march at the institution on Friday morning, demanding that government account for its role in causing the wave of protests, and that UCT be more transparent with its finances.

The Mail & Guardian reported on Friday that Higher Education Minister Blade Nzimande withheld for three years a report that found free university education was viable for the poor.

In Bloemfontein, a group of 30 students was expected to appear in court after they were arrested during protests on Thursday.

At the University of Fort Hare in Alice, Eastern Cape, students looted and damaged university property. They burnt mattresses and furniture and blocked the university's entrances, eNCA reported.

In Durban, metro police and public order police had gathered at Curries Fountain in anticipation of a march by students to the city’s ANC office.

The University of Pretoria was granted a court interdict to stop protesting students from disrupting work on the campus.

The UCT academics were demanding that UCT withdraw the interdict it was granted against protesting students.

In London, students would make their way to the South African High Commission in Trafalgar Square.